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> how is the US/Mexico border a "defense" issue? Well, whether you agree with it or not, part of the justification is that if anybody can cross easily, terrori

> how is the US/Mexico border a "defense" issue? Well, whether you agree with it or not, part of the justification is that if anybody can cross easily, terrorist groups will, too. IIRC, the 9/11 hijackers didn’t fly into the US since we were looking for them, they flew into Canada and crossed the border (although Canada’s not Mexico, of course…)

1024core 7y ago
> didn’t fly into the US since we were looking for them They were all (most?) students in various flight schools here, with valid visas.
- akhilcacharya 7y ago
  This is correct. There were attempts to cross over from Canada, like the Millennium plot, but they were stopped despite a notoriously porous border [0]. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_millennium_attack_plots#LAX_bombing_plot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_millennium_attack_plots#L...
hbosch 7y ago
> Well, whether you agree with it or not, part of the justification is that if anybody can cross easily, terrorist groups will, too. You don't hear a lot about the big wall we need across the Canadian border.
- commandlinefan 7y ago
  That might be because it’s way bigger than the wall we would need on the southern border or because more people cross from the south than from the north or because they actually are using border security as an excuse to keep out Mexicans - but keeping terrorists out is (one of) the justifications for classifying border security as a national security and therefore military issue.
- stale2002 7y ago
  > You don't hear a lot about the big wall we need across the Canadian border. We don't have many people crossing the border illegally, at the canadian border. Of course we are going to prioritize the location in which the vast majority of people who enter the border illegally, are using. Which is the southern border, in this case.
sjg007 7y ago
The hijackers did not enter through Canada or Mexico. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijackers_in_the_September_11_attacks#Before_the_attacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijackers_in_the_September_11_...

1024core 7y ago

> didn’t fly into the US since we were looking for them They were all (most?) students in various flight schools here, with valid visas.

akhilcacharya 7y ago
This is correct. There were attempts to cross over from Canada, like the Millennium plot, but they were stopped despite a notoriously porous border [0]. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_millennium_attack_plots#LAX_bombing_plot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_millennium_attack_plots#L...

hbosch 7y ago

> Well, whether you agree with it or not, part of the justification is that if anybody can cross easily, terrorist groups will, too. You don't hear a lot about the big wall we need across the Canadian border.

commandlinefan 7y ago
That might be because it’s way bigger than the wall we would need on the southern border or because more people cross from the south than from the north or because they actually are using border security as an excuse to keep out Mexicans - but keeping terrorists out is (one of) the justifications for classifying border security as a national security and therefore military issue.
stale2002 7y ago
> You don't hear a lot about the big wall we need across the Canadian border. We don't have many people crossing the border illegally, at the canadian border. Of course we are going to prioritize the location in which the vast majority of people who enter the border illegally, are using. Which is the southern border, in this case.

sjg007 7y ago

The hijackers did not enter through Canada or Mexico. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijackers_in_the_September_11_attacks#Before_the_attacks https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijackers_in_the_September_11_...